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All Rise...

In his circus days, Appellate Judge Tom Becker could spin three sorcerers while juggling five apples.

The Charge

He turns them on…he turns them off…to
live…love…die…or KILL!

The Case

Elderly "medical hypnotist" Professor Marcus Monseratt (Boris
Karloff, Bride of Frankenstein) has lived in disgrace for the past 30
years, after a series of newspaper articles mocked him and cast doubt on his
credibility. He and his wife, Estelle (Catherine Lacey, The Servant), live in a modest flat in
London, having "done without" for so many years.

But Marcus has something that might finally garner some acclaim: an
invention that allows people to live vicariously through others, to feel what
someone else feels and experience what someone else is experiencing. Marcus
believes this will be a boon to the sick and elderly who cannot travel and have
adventures on their own, but who will be able to enjoy the sensations of such
things through a presumably younger designee.

To test the device, Marcus entices young Mike Roscoe (Ian Oglivy,
Waterloo) to come to the apartment. Mike gets "the
treatment"—and it's a success! Not only can Marcus and Estelle
vicariously experience everything Mike is experiencing, but they can control his
actions, as well, without him knowing about it. Anything Mike does while under
the influence of the old couple becomes a blackout.

Marcus is eager to present his invention to the world so it can be
beneficial—but Estelle, who has stayed by his side and lived in poverty
for decades, wants to have some fun first.

And "fun" for Estelle means using the zombified Mike for any
number of perverse and nefarious activities.

The Sorcerers was the second of three films credited to the talented
Michael Reeves (1943-1969), the other two being She Beast and Witchfinder General. While The
Sorcerers doesn't reach the heights of Reeves' Witchfinder General,
his masterpiece, it's an effectively haunting film that combines a bit of horror
and a bit of sci-fi into an unnerving and twisted little morality drama.

Reeves gives us an intriguing story and complex characters with plausible
motivations. Marcus wants to do good as a doctor; while monetary gain is
certainly an attractive possibility, Marcus is more interested in redeeming his
reputation.

Estelle, on the other hand, is bitter about her years of doing
without—besides, it's not her reputation that needs redeeming. She's not a
venal person—at least, not initially—just greedy and ultimately
careless.

While Mike is off doing the dirty deeds imparted in his head by Estelle, the
older couple bicker, sometimes bitterly, and The Sorcerers becomes kind
of a low-rent horror version of Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the exchanges becoming increasingly nastier and
more dangerous. Naturally, as things go on, Estelle's wishes become darker, and
Marcus finds himself struggling to contain her.

The story's a bit slight, but Karloff and Lacey hold it together. As
Estelle, veteran British actress Lacey crafts a wonderfully nuanced portrait of
a woman slowly losing her grip on reality, starting out excited and purposeful
before descending into poison.

Then there's Karloff. By this point, of course, he was pretty much a brand,
and merely putting his name in the credits determined a product as a horror
movie, and the actor wasn't above "phoning it in," particularly with
projects that didn't require much effort. But Karloff's not coasting here;
alternately sinister and touching, he shines in this role, one of the few
substantial parts to come his way this late in his career. Had this not been a
genre film, it might have spurred interest in giving Karloff more serious
roles—King Lear, for instance. Unfortunately, with the exception of Targets, Karloff's final appearances were in
projects beneath his talents.

While the young cast members aren't as interesting as the elders, they still
acquit themselves nicely, including Ogilvy as the beleaguered pawn Mike and
Victor Henry (Privilege) as his jovial
friend. A young Susan George (Mandingo)
turns up as another of Mike's friends.

The Sorcerers comes to us courtesy of Warner Archive, which means
zero supplements and zero restoration. While the image is pretty spotty, it's
acceptable, as is the mono audio track.

The Verdict

While the disc isn't deluxe, The Sorcerers is a pretty great little
cult item.